Method and apparatus for analyzing user-generated performance data

ABSTRACT

A system that incorporates the subject disclosure may include, for example, a processor that facilitates a performance of operations. The operations may include obtaining an identification of an action to monitor during a gameplay associated with a game, storing a representation of a sliding window of the gameplay in a first storage medium, monitoring, by the system, for the identification of the action during the gameplay, detecting the identification of the action during the gameplay responsive to the monitoring, and responsive to the detecting, storing the representation of the sliding window of the gameplay in a second storage medium that is different from the first storage medium. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present application claims the benefit of priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/758,069 filed Nov. 9, 2018, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to a method and apparatus foranalyzing user-generated performance data. Moreover, the presentdisclosure relates to a sharing of content associated with a gameplay ofa game.

BACKGROUND

It is common today for gamers to utilize more than one gaming accessory.This is especially true of gamers who play on-line games or competitivegames in a team or individual configuration. Gamers can have at theirdisposal accessories such as a keyboard, a general purpose gaming pad, amouse, a gaming console controller, a headset to communicate with otherplayers, a joystick, a computer console, or other common gamingaccessories.

A gamer can frequently use a combination of these accessories (e.g.,headset, a keyboard, and mouse) in a single game. Efficient managementand utilization of these accessories can frequently impact a gamer'sability to compete.

Accessory management can have utility in other disciplines which may notrelate to gaming applications. Efficient use of accessories in theseother disciplines can be important to other users.

In addition, a player can play a video game with other players (asteammates) and against opponents, all of which are remotely connectedover a communication network. Further, the video game can monitoraspects of player interaction within the video game such that they canbe reviewed to improve player performance in the future.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a Graphical User Interface(GUI) generated by an Accessory Management Software (AMS) applicationaccording to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2-3 depict illustrative embodiments for communicatively coupling agaming controller to a computing device;

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device;

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a first method utilized inthe subject disclosure;

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a second method utilized inthe subject disclosure;

FIG. 7A depicts an illustrative embodiment of a third method utilized inthe subject disclosure;

FIG. 7B depicts an illustrative embodiment of a fourth method utilizedin the subject disclosure;

FIG. 7C depicts an illustrative embodiment of a fifth method utilized inthe subject disclosure;

FIG. 7D depicts an illustrative embodiment of a sixth method utilized inthe subject disclosure.

FIGS. 7E-7G depicts an illustrative embodiment of interfaces associatedwith a gameplay of a game.

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a system operating at leastin part according to the methods of FIGS. 5-7D;

FIG. 9 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication flowdiagram utilized by the system of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 depicts an illustrative diagrammatic representation of a machinein the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies disclosed herein.

FIG. 11 depicts an illustrative diagrammatic representation of a slidingwindow in accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 12 depicts the storage media for storing a representation of asliding window in accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 13 depicts system to identify a group of possible trigger clips inaccordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 14 depicts a system to distribute a group of trigger clips to agroup of players in accordance with aspects of this disclosure.

FIGS. 15A-D depict illustrative embodiments of methods utilized in thesubject disclosure.

FIG. 16 depicts an illustrative embodiment of an operating environment.

FIG. 17 depicts an illustrative embodiment of an eleventh methodutilized in the subject disclosure.

FIG. 18 depicts an illustrative embodiment of an twelfth method utilizedin the subject disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrativeembodiments for detecting a current trigger during a video game anddetermining a group of players involved in the current trigger. Furtherembodiments include recording a trigger clip of game content for eachplayer in the group of players resulting in a group of trigger clips.Each trigger clip of the group of trigger clips is a portion of gamecontent that includes the current trigger from a perspective of eachplayer of the group of players. Additional embodiments include providingthe group of trigger clips to a group of gaming devices over acommunication network. Each gaming device of the group of gaming devicesis associated with one player of the group of players. Other embodimentsare described in the subject disclosure.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a device. The devicecan comprise a memory to store instructions and a processor coupled tothe memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, theprocessor performs operations. Operations can include detecting acurrent trigger during a video game, and determining a group of playersinvolved in the current trigger. Further operations can includerecording a trigger clip of game content for each player in the group ofplayers resulting in a group of trigger clips. Each trigger clip of thegroup of trigger clips is a portion of game content that includes thecurrent trigger from a perspective of each player of the group ofplayers. Additional operations can include providing the group oftrigger clips to a group of gaming devices over a communication network.Each gaming device of the group of gaming devices is associated with oneplayer of the group of players.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a machine-readablestorage medium, comprising instructions, wherein responsive to executingthe instructions, a processor performs operations. Operations caninclude accessing training game content, acquiring machine learningtechniques to identify different triggers from different events from thetraining game content, and identifying a current trigger during a videogame in response to implementing the machine learning techniques on aportion of game content. Further operations can include determining agroup of players involved in the current trigger, and recording atrigger clip of game content for each player in the group of playersresulting in a group of trigger clips. Each trigger clip of the group oftrigger clips is a portion of game content that includes the currenttrigger from a perspective of each player of the group of players.Additional operations can include providing the group of trigger clipsto a group of gaming devices over a communication network. Each gamingdevice of the group of gaming devices is associated with one player ofthe group of players.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a method. The methodcan comprise associating, by a processing system including a processor,each event in a group of events of a video game with each trigger typefrom a group of trigger types for the video game, and detecting, by theprocessing system, a current trigger during the video game. Further, themethod can include determining, by the processing system, a group ofplayers involved in the current trigger, and recording, by theprocessing system, a trigger clip of game content for each player in thegroup of players resulting in a group of trigger clips. Each triggerclip of the group of trigger clips is a portion of game content thatincludes the current trigger from a perspective of each player of thegroup of players. In addition, the method can include providing, by theprocessing system, the group of trigger clips to a group of gamingdevices over a communication network. Each gaming device of the group ofgaming devices is associated with one player of the group of players.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a Graphical User Interface(GUI) generated by an Accessory Management Software (AMS) applicationaccording to the present disclosure. The AMS application can be executedby a computing device such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, atablet, a server, a mainframe computer, a gaming console, a gamingaccessory, or any combination or portions thereof. The AMS applicationcan also be executed by portable computing devices such as a cellularphone, a personal digital assistant, or a media player. The AMSapplication can be executed by any device with suitable computing andcommunication resources.

FIG. 2 illustrates a number of embodiments for utilizing a gamingcontroller 115 with a computing device 206 in the form of a gamingconsole. In the illustration of FIG. 2, the gaming controller 115 can becommunicatively coupled to the gaming console 206 with a tethered cableinterface 202 such as a USB or proprietary cable, or a wirelessinterface 204 such as WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, or a proprietary wirelesscommunications protocol. The cable interface 202 provides a means forcommunication that may be less susceptible to electromagneticinterference. It will be appreciated that the gaming controller 115 mayfurther include a headset 114 (with or without a microphone not shown)utilized by a gamer to communicate with teammates and/or to listen togame sounds in high fidelity. In the illustration of FIG. 2, the AMSapplication can in whole or in part be executed by the gaming controller115, the gaming console 206, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 3 illustrates a number of other embodiments for utilizing a gamingcontroller 115 with a computing device 206. In this embodiment, thegaming controller 115 comprises a mouse and the computing device 206comprises a computer. The gaming controller 115 can be tethered to thecomputing device 206 by a cable interface 202 (e.g., USB cable orproprietary cable) or a wireless interface 204. The cable interface 202provides a means for communication that may be less susceptible toelectromagnetic interference. It will be appreciated that the gamingcontroller 115 may further include a headset (with or without amicrophone not shown) utilized by a gamer to communicate with teammatesand/or to listen to game sounds in high fidelity. In the illustration ofFIG. 3, the AMS application can in whole or in part be executed by thegaming controller 115, the gaming console 206, or a combination thereof.

For illustration purposes, the terms gaming console 206 and computer 206will be used hence forth interchangeably with the term computing device206 with an understanding that a computing device 206 may represent anumber of other devices such as a server, a tablet, a smart phone, andso on. Accordingly, a computing device 206 can represent any device withsuitable computing resources to perform the methods described in thesubject disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device 400.Communication device 400 can serve in whole or in part as anillustrative embodiment of devices described in the subject disclosure.The communication device 400 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 402 (herein transceiver 402), a user interface (UI) 404, apower supply 414, a proximity sensor 416, a motion sensor 418, anorientation sensor 420, and a controller 406 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 402 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, Digital EnhancedCordless Telecommunications (DECT), or cellular communicationtechnologies, just to mention a few. Cellular technologies can include,for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO, WiMAX,software defined radio (SDR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), as well asother next generation wireless communication technologies as they arise.The transceiver 402 can also be adapted to support circuit-switchedwireline access technologies (such as PSTN), packet-switched wirelineaccess technologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP, etc.), and combinationsthereof.

The UI 404 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 408coupled to a navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, amouse, or a navigation disk for manipulating operations of thecommunication device 400. The keypad 408 can be an integral part of ahousing assembly of the communication device 400 or an independentdevice operably coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (suchas a USB cable) or a wireless interface supporting for exampleBluetooth. The keypad 408 can represent a numeric keypad, and/or aQWERTY keypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 404 can further include adisplay 410 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technologyfor conveying images to an end user of the communication device 400.

In an embodiment where the display 410 utilizes touch-sensitivetechnology, a portion or all of the keypad 408 can be presented by wayof the display 410 with navigation features. As a touch screen display,the communication device 400 can be adapted to present a user interfacewith graphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by auser with a touch of a finger. The touch screen display 410 can beequipped with capacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technologyto detect how much surface area of a user's finger has been placed on aportion of the touch screen display. This sensing information can beused to control the manipulation of the GUI elements.

The UI 404 can also include an audio system 412 that utilizes commonaudio technology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heardonly in the proximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such asspeakerphone for hands free operation, stereo or surround sound system).The audio system 412 can further include a microphone for receivingaudible signals of an end user. The audio system 412 can also be usedfor voice recognition applications. The UI 404 can further include animage sensor 413 such as a charged coupled device (CCD) camera forcapturing still or moving images and performing image recognitiontherefrom.

The power supply 414 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable or rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and charging system technologies for supplying energy tothe components of the communication device 400 to facilitate long-rangeor short-range portable applications. Alternatively, the charging systemcan utilize external power sources such as DC power supplied over aphysical interface such as a USB port or by way of a power cord attachedto a transformer that converts AC to DC power.

The proximity sensor 416 can utilize proximity sensing technology suchas an electromagnetic sensor, a capacitive sensor, an inductive sensor,an image sensor or combinations thereof. The motion sensor 418 canutilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope,or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect movement of thecommunication device 400 in three-dimensional space. The orientationsensor 420 can utilize orientation sensing technology such as amagnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device 400(North, South, West, East, combined orientations thereof in degrees,minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 400 can use the transceiver 402 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wirelessaccess points by common sensing techniques such as utilizing a receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI) and/or a signal time of arrival (TOA)or time of flight (TOF). The controller 406 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies.

The communication device 400 as described herein can operate with moreor less components described in FIG. 4 to accommodate the implementationof devices described by the subject disclosure. These variantembodiments are contemplated by the subject disclosure.

FIGS. 5-7A depict methods 500-700 describing illustrative embodiments ofthe AMS application. Method 500 can begin with step 502 in which the AMSapplication is invoked in a computing device. The computing device canbe a remote server (not shown), the gaming console 206 or computer 206of FIGS. 2-3, or any other computing device with suitable computingresources. The invocation step can result from a user selection of theAMS application from a menu or iconic symbol presented by the computingdevice 206, or when a user communicatively couples a gaming controller115 or other form of accessory device with the computing device 206. Instep 504, the AMS application can detect by way of software drivers inan operating system (OS) of the computing device 206 a plurality ofoperationally distinct accessories communicatively coupled to thecomputing device 206. The accessories can be coupled to the computingdevice 206 by a tethered interface (e.g., USB cable), a wirelessinterface (e.g., Bluetooth or Wireless Fidelity—WiFi), or combinationsthereof.

In the present context, an accessory can represent any type of devicewhich can be communicatively coupled to the computing device 206 (orwhich can be an integral part of the computing device) and which cancontrol aspects of the OS and/or a software application operating fromthe computing device 206. An accessory can represent for example akeyboard, a touch screen display, a gaming pad, a gaming controller, amouse, a joystick, a microphone, or a headset with a microphone—just tomention a few.

In step 506, the AMS application presents a GUI 101 such as depicted inFIG. 1 depicting operationally distinct accessories such as a keyboard108, and a gaming controller 115. The GUI 101 presents the accessories108-116 in a scrollable section 117. One or more accessories can beselected by a user with a mouse pointer. In this illustration, thekeyboard 108 and the gaming controller 115 were selected forcustomization. Upon selecting the keyboard 108 and the gaming controller115 from the scrollable window of section 117, the AMS applicationpresents the keyboard 108 and the gaming controller 115 in split windows118, 120, respectively, to assist the user during the customizationprocess.

In step 508, the AMS application can be programmed to detect auser-selection of a particular software application such as a videogame. This step can be the result of the user entering in a Quick Searchfield 160 the name of a gaming application (e.g., World of Warcraft™ orWoW). Upon identifying a gaming application, the AMS application canretrieve in step 510 from a remote or local database gaming applicationactions which can be presented in a scrollable section 139 of the GUIrepresented as “Actions” 130. The actions can be tactical actions 132,communication actions 134, menu actions 136, and movement actions 138which can be used to invoke and manage features of the gamingapplication.

The actions presented descriptively in section 130 of the GUI canrepresent a sequence of accessory input functions which a user canstimulate by button depressions, navigation or speech. For example,depressing the left button on the mouse 110 can represent the tacticalaction “Reload”, while the simultaneous keyboard depressions “Ctrl A”can represent the tactical action “Melee Attack”. For ease of use, the“Actions” 130 section of the GUI is presented descriptively rather thanby a description of the input function(s) of a particular accessory.

Any one of the Actions 130 can be associated with one or more inputfunctions of the accessories being customized in windows 118 and 120 byway of a drag and drop action or other customization options. Forinstance, a user can select a “Melee Attack” by placing a mouse pointer133 over an iconic symbol associated with this action. Upon doing so,the symbol can be highlighted to indicate to the user that the icon isselectable. At this point, the user can select the icon by holding theleft mouse button and drag the symbol to any of the input functions(e.g., buttons) of the keyboard 108 or selectable options of the gamingcontroller 115 to make an association with an input function of one ofthese accessories. Actions of one accessory can also be associated withanother accessory that is of a different category. For example, keydepressions “Ctrl A” of the keyboard 108 can be associated with one ofthe buttons of the gaming controller 115 (e.g., the left button 119).

In one embodiment, a Melee Attack action can be associated by draggingthis action to either the left button 119 or right button 120 of thegaming controller 115. Thus, when the selected button is depressed, thestimulus signal that is generated by the selected button of the gamingcontroller 115 can be substituted by the AMS application with the MeleeAttack action. In another embodiment, the AMS application can beconfigured so that the Melee Action can be associated with a combinationof key button presses (e.g., simultaneous depression of the left andright buttons 119, 121, or a sequence of button depressions: two rapidleft button depressions followed by a right button depression).

In yet another embodiment, the AMS application can be configured so thatthe Melee Action can be associated with movement of the gamingcontroller 115 such as, for example, rapid movement or shaking of thegaming controller 115. In a further embodiment, the AMS application canbe adapted to make associations with two dimensional or threedimensional movements of the gaming controller 115 according to a gamingvenue state. For example, suppose the player's avatar enters a fighterjet. In this gaming venue state, moving the left navigation knob forwardcan be associated by the AMS application with controlling the throttleof the jet engines. Rapidly moving the gaming controller 115 downwardcan represent release of munitions such as a bomb.

In a gaming venue state where the gamer's avatar has entered a building,lifting of the gaming controller 115 above a first displacementthreshold can be associated with a rapid movement of the avatar up onefloor. A second displacement threshold can be associated with a rapidmovement of the avatar down one floor—the opposite of the firstdisplacement threshold. Alternatively, the second displacement thresholdcould be associated with a different action such as jumping betweenbuildings when the avatar is on the roof of a building.

The AMS application can monitor gaming venue states by analyzingcaptured images produced by the gaming application (e.g., one or morestill images of a tank, or a video of an avatar entering a tank), and/orby receiving messages from the gaming application by way of anapplication programming interface (API) thereby enabling the AMSapplication to identify the occurrence of a particular gaming venuestate.

At step 512 the AMS application can also respond to a user selection ofa profile. A profile can be a device profile or master profile invokedby selecting GUI button 156 or 158, each of which can identify theassociation of gaming actions with input functions of one or moreaccessories. If a profile selection is detected in step 512, the AMSapplication can retrieve in step 514 macro(s) and/or prior associationsdefined by the profile. The actions and/or macros defined in the profilecan also be presented in step 516 by the AMS application in the actionscolumn 130 of the GUI 101 to modify existing profile associations orcreate new associations.

In step 518, the AMS application can also respond to a user selection tocreate a macro. A macro in the present context can mean any actionablecommand which can be recorded by the AMS application. An actionablecommand can represent a sequence of stimuli generated by manipulatinginput functions of an accessory, a combination of actions in the Actionsection 130, an identification of a software application to be initiatedby the OS of the computing device 206, or any other recordable stimulusto initiate, control or manipulate software applications. For instance,a macro can represent a user entering the identity of a softwareapplication (e.g., instant messaging tool) to be initiated by the OSupon the AMS application detecting a speech command using speechrecognition technology.

A macro can also represent recordable speech delivered by a microphonesingly or in combination with a headset for detection by anothersoftware application through speech recognition or for delivery of therecorded speech to other parties. In yet another embodiment a macro canrepresent recordable navigation of an accessory such as a joystick ofthe gaming controller 115, recordable selections of buttons of thegaming controller 115, and so on. Macros can also be combinations of theabove illustrations with selected actions from the Actions 130 menu.Macros can be created from the GUI 101 by selecting a “Record Macro”button 148. The macro can be given a name and category in user-definedfields 140 and 142.

Upon selecting the Record Macro button 148, a macro can be generated byselection of input functions on an accessory (e.g., Ctrl A, speech,navigation knob movements of the gaming controller 115, etc.) and/or bymanual entry in field 144 (e.g., typing the name and location of asoftware application to be initiated by an OS, such as an instantmessaging application, keyboard entries such as Ctrl A, etc.). Once themacro is created, it can be tested by selecting button 150 which canrepeat the sequence specified in field 144. The clone button 152 can beselected to replicate the macro sequence if desired. Fields 152 can alsopresent timing characteristics of the stimulation sequence in the macrowith the ability to modify and thereby customize the timing of one ormore stimulations in the stimulation sequence. Once the macro has beenfully defined, selection of button 154 records the macro in step 520.The recording step can be combined with a step for adding the macro tothe associable items Actions column 130, thereby providing the user themeans to associate the macro with input functions of the accessories(e.g., one or more keys of the keyboard 108, buttons of the gamingcontroller 115, etc.).

In step 522, the AMS application can respond to drag and dropassociations of actions with input functions of the keyboard 108 or thegaming controller 115. Associations can also be made based on the two orthree dimensional movements of the gaming controller 115. If user inputindicates that a user is performing an association, the AMS applicationcan proceed to step 524 where it can determine if a profile has beenidentified in step 512 to record the association(s) detected. If aprofile has been identified, the associations are recorded/stored in theprofile in step 526. If a profile has not been identified in step 512,the AMS application can create a profile in step 528 for recording thedetected associations. In the same step, the user can name the newlycreated profile as desired. The newly created profile can also beassociated with one or more gaming software applications in step 530 forfuture reference. The AMS application can also record in a profile instep 526 associations based on gaming venue states. In this embodimentthe same stimuli generated by the gaming controller 115 can result indifferent substitutions based on the gaming venue state detected by theAMS application.

Referring back to step 526, once the associations have been recorded ina profile, the AMS application can determine in step 532 which of theaccessories shown illustratively in FIGS. 1-3 are programmable andavailable for programming If the AMS application detects that anaccessory (e.g., keyboard 108, gaming controller 115) is communicativelycoupled to the computing device 206 and determines that the accessory iscapable of performing stimulus substitutions locally, the AMSapplication can proceed to step 534 of FIG. 5 where it submits theprofile and its contents for storage in the accessory (e.g., the gamingcontroller 115 in FIGS. 2-3). Once the accessory (e.g., the gamingcontroller 115) is programmed with the profile, the accessory canperform stimuli substitutions according to the associations recorded bythe AMS application in the profile. Alternatively, the AMS applicationcan store the profile in the computing device 206 of FIGS. 2-3 andperform substitutions of stimuli supplied by the gaming controller 115according to associations recorded in the profile by the AMSapplication.

The GUI 101 of FIG. 1 presented by the AMS application can have otherfunctions. For example, the GUI 101 can present a layout of theaccessory (button 122), how the accessory is illuminated whenassociations between input functions and actions are made (button 124),and configuration options for the accessory (button 126). The AMSapplication can adapt the GUI 101 to present more than one functionalGUI page. For instance, by selecting button 102, the AMS application canadapt the GUI 101 to present a means to create macros and associateactions to accessory input functions as depicted in FIG. 1. Selectingbutton 104 can cause the AMS application to adapt the GUI 101 to presentstatistics from stimulation information and/or gaming action resultscaptured by the AMS application as described in the subject disclosure.Selecting button 106 can also cause the AMS application to adapt the GUI101 to present promotional offers and software updates.

The steps of method 500 in whole or in part can be repeated until adesirable pattern is achieved of associations between stimulus signalsgenerated by accessories and substitute stimuli. It would be apparent toan artisan with ordinary skill in the art that there can be numerousother approaches to accomplish the embodiments described by method 500or variants thereof. These undisclosed approaches are contemplated bythe subject disclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts a method 600 for illustrating additional operations ofthe AMS application. In the configurations of FIGS. 2-3, the AMSapplication can be operating in whole or in part from the gamingcontroller 115, a gaming console 206, a computer 206, or a remote server(not shown). For illustration purposes, it is assumed the AMSapplication operates from the gaming console 206. Method 600 can beginwith the AMS application establishing communications in steps 602 and604 between the gaming console 206 and a gaming accessory such as thegaming controller 115, and a headset 114 such as shown in FIG. 1. Thesesteps can represent for example a user starting the AMS application fromthe gaming console 206 and/or the user inserting at a USB port of thegaming console 206 a connector of a USB cable tethered to the gamingcontroller 115, which invokes the AMS application. In step 606, thegaming controller 115 and/or headset 114 can in turn provide the AMSapplication one or more accessory ID's, or the user can provide by wayof a keyboard or the gaming controller 115 user identification. With theaccessory ID's, or user input the AMS application can identify in step608 a user account associated with the gaming controller 115 and/orheadset 114. In step 610, the AMS application can retrieve one or moreprofiles associated with the user account.

In step 612, the user can be presented by way of a display coupled tothe gaming console 206 profiles available to the user to choose from. Ifthe user makes a selection, the AMS application proceeds to step 614where it retrieves from the selected profiles the association(s) storedtherein. If a selection is not made, the AMS application can proceed tostep 616 where it can determine whether a software gaming application(e.g., video game) is operating from the gaming console 206 or whetherthe gaming console 206 is communicating with the software gamingapplication by way of a remote system communicatively coupled to thegaming console 206 (e.g., on-line gaming server(s) presenting, forexample, World of Warcraft™). If a gaming software application isdetected, the AMS application proceeds to step 617 where it retrieves aprofile that matches the gaming application detected and theassociation(s) contained in the profile. As noted earlier,association(s) can represent accessory stimulations, navigation, speech,the invocation of other software applications, macros or other suitableassociations that result in substitute stimulations. The accessorystimulations can be stimulations that are generated by the gamingcontroller 115, as well as stimulations from other accessories (e.g.,headset 114), or combinations thereof.

Once a profile and its contents have been retrieved in either of steps614 or step 617, the AMS application can proceed to step 719 of FIG. 7where it monitors for a change in a gaming venue state based on thepresentations made by the gaming application, or API messages suppliedby the gaming application. At the start of a game, for example, thegaming venue state can be determined immediately depending on the gamingoptions chosen by the gamer. The AMS application can determine thegaming venue state by tracking the gaming options chosen by a gamer,receiving an API instruction from the gaming application, or byperforming image processing on the video presentation generated by thegaming application. For example, the AMS application can detect that thegamer has directed an avatar to enter a tank. The AMS application canretrieve in step 719 associations for the gaming controller 115 forcontrolling the tank.

The AMS application can process movements of the gaming controller 115forwards, backwards, or sideways in two or three dimensions to controlthe tanks movement. Similarly, rotating the gaming controller 115 ortilting the gaming controller 115 forward can cause an accelerometer,gyro or magnetometer of the gaming controller 115 to providenavigational data to the AMS application which can be substituted withan action to cause the tank to turn and/or move forward. The profileretrieved by the AMS application can indicate that the greater theforward tilt of the gaming controller 115, the greater the speed of thetank should be moving forward. Similarly, a rear tilt can generatenavigation data that is substituted with a reverse motion and/ordeceleration of the forward motion to stop or slow down the tank. Athree dimensional lift of the mouse can cause the tank to steeraccording to the three dimensional navigation data provided by thegaming controller 115. For example, navigation data associated with acombination of a forward tilt and right bank of the gaming controller115 can be substituted by the AMS application to cause an increase inforward speed of the tank with a turn to the right determined by the AMSapplication according to a degree of banking of the gaming controller115 to the right. In the above embodiment, the three dimensionalnavigation data allows a gamer to control any directional vector of thetank including speed, direction, acceleration and deceleration.

In another illustration, the AMS application can detect a new gamingvenue state as a result of the gamer directing the avatar to leave thetank and travel on foot. Once again the AMS application retrieves instep 719 associations related to the gaming venue state. In thisembodiment, selection of buttons of the gaming controller 115 can beassociated by the AMS application with weaponry selection, firing,reloading and so on. The movement of the gaming controller 115 in two orthree dimensions can control the direction of the avatar and/orselection or use of weaponry. Once the gaming venue state is detected instep 719, the AMS application retrieves the associations related to thevenue state, and can perform substitutions of stimuli generated by thegaming controller 115, and/or speech commands received by microphone ofthe headset 114.

In one embodiment, the AMS application can be configured in step 719 toretrieve a profile that provides substitute stimuli for replacingcertain stimuli generated by accessories. The associations recorded inthe profile can be venue independent. In another embodiment, the AMSapplication can retrieve a combination of profiles, where one or moreprofiles provide substitute stimuli that are venue dependent and one ormore other profiles provide substitute stimuli that are venueindependent.

The AMS application can monitor in step 720 stimulations generated bythe accessories coupled to the gaming console 206. The stimulations canbe generated by the gamer by manipulating the gaming controller 115,and/or by generating speech commands detected by a microphone of theheadset 114. If a stimulation is detected at step 720, the AMSapplication can determine in step 722 whether to forward the detectedstimulation(s) to an Operating System (OS) of the gaming console 206 orthe gaming application directly without substitutions. Thisdetermination can be made by comparing the detected stimulation(s) tocorresponding associations in one or more profiles retrieved by the AMSapplication. If the detected stimulation(s) match the associations, thenthe AMS application proceeds to step 740 where it retrieves substitutestimulation(s) in the profile(s). In step 742, the AMS application cansubstitute the detected stimulation(s) with the substitute stimulationsin the profile(s).

In one embodiment, the AMS application can track in step 744 thesubstitute stimulations by updating the stimulations with a uniqueidentifier such as a globally unique identifier (GUID). In thisembodiment, the AMS application can also add a time stamp to eachsubstitute stimulation to track when the substitution was performed. Inanother embodiment, the AMS application can track each substitutestimulation according to its order of submission to the gamingapplication. For instance, sequence numbers can be generated for thesubstitute stimulations to track the order in which they were submittedto the gaming application. In this embodiment, the substitutestimulations do not need to be updated with sequence numbers oridentifiers so long as the order of gaming action results submitted bythe gaming application to the AMS application remain in the same orderas the substitute stimulations were originally submitted.

For example, if a first stimulation sent to the gaming application bythe AMS application is a command to shoot, and a second stimulation sentto the gaming application is a command to shoot again, then so long asthe gaming application provides a first a game action result for thefirst shot, followed by a game action result for the second shot, thenthe substitute stimulations will not require updating with sequencenumbers since the game action results are reported in the order that thestimulations were sent. If on the other hand, the game action resultscan be submitted out of order, then updating the stimulations withsequence numbers or another suitable identifier would be required toenable the AMS application to properly track and correlate stimulationsand corresponding gaming action results.

Referring back to step 722, if the detected stimulation(s) do not matchan association in the profile(s), then the AMS application proceeds toone of steps 744 or 746 in order to track the stimulations of theaccessory as described above. In another embodiment, tracking oforiginal stimulations or substitute stimulations can be bypassed byskipping steps 744 or 746 and proceeding to step 770 of FIG. 7B.

Once the stimulations received in step 720 have been substituted withother stimulations at step 742 responsive to a detected association, ormaintained unchanged responsive to detecting no association withsubstitute stimuli, and (optionally) the AMS application has chosen aproper tracking methodology for correlating gaming action results withstimulations, the AMS application can proceed to step 770 of FIG. 7B.

Referring to FIG. 7B, at step 770, the AMS application can obtain anidentification of an action to monitor during a gameplay associated witha game. The identification of the action may include a specification ofa sound volume level associated with a user (e.g., a gamer). Theidentification of the action may include a specification of a number ofuser inputs exceeding a threshold. The number of user inputs may includea number of messages that are submitted, an identification of a contentof the messages, an identification of an emoji, or a combinationthereof. The identification of an action may include a gaming actionprovided by the game—see FIGS. 8-9 and accompanying descriptions.

At step 772, the AMS application can store a representation of a slidingwindow of the gameplay in a first storage medium (e.g., first storagemedium 1272 of FIG. 12). The storage of step 772 may occur in real-timeduring the gameplay. The representation of the sliding window of thegameplay may include a video, an image, an audio track, or a combinationthereof. The first storage medium may include a buffer of a graphicscard, a random access memory, or a combination thereof.

The sliding window may be of a substantially fixed duration, such thatthe sliding window progresses as the user/gamer continues to play agame. For example, and briefly referring to FIG. 11, a sliding window1100 (as a function of time t) is shown. As gameplay progresses, anew/supplemental representation of the gameplay may be added as shownvia reference character/dashed portion 1102. In order to accommodatestorage of the portion 1102, another portion 1104 may bedeleted/overwritten. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the portion1104 to be deleted/overwritten corresponds to theoldest/earliest-in-time portion of the window 1100. In some embodiments,a portion other than, or in addition to, the oldest portion may beidentified for being deleted/overwritten. Still further, in someembodiments the sliding window 1100 may be of a variable duration. Forexample, the duration/length of the sliding window may be a function ofnetwork traffic, a capability of a device (e.g., storage capacity),user/gamer inputs, etc.

Referring back to FIG. 7B, at step 774, the AMS application can monitorfor the identification of the action during the gameplay.

At step 776, the AMS application can detect the identification duringthe gameplay responsive to the monitoring. In some embodiments, whetheran event has occurred or not, as reflected by the detection of step 776,may be based on a comparison of game action with one or more thresholds.Such thresholds may be specified by users/gamers (e.g., in accordancewith user inputs/preferences), may be predetermined based on one or morerules/configurations associated with a game, etc.

At step 778, the AMS application can store at least a portion of therepresentation of the sliding window of the gameplay in a second storagemedium (e.g., second storage medium 1278 of FIG. 12). The second storagemedium may be the same as, or different from, the first storage medium.The second storage medium may include a server associated with a socialmedia platform, a server associated with a virtual machine, a memorycontained within a common housing as the first storage medium, a networkelement (e.g., a router, a gateway, a switch, etc.), or a combinationthereof.

The storing of step 778 may include storing a video of a gamer, an imageof the gamer (e.g., a thumbnail or icon representation of the gamer), anaudio track of the gamer, or a combination thereof.

The storing of step 778 may include presenting a prompt (potentiallyresponsive to the monitoring of step 774), placing a copy of therepresentation of the sliding window of the gameplay in a third storagemedium (e.g., third storage medium 1280 of FIG. 12, which may bedifferent from the first storage medium (1272) and/or the second storagemedium (1278)), receiving a user input in response to the prompt, andstoring the copy in the second storage medium responsive to the userinput.

The placement of the representation/copy of the sliding window of thegameplay in the third storage medium may free/alleviate the firststorage medium, such that the first storage medium can continuecapturing gameplay/action as the gameplay continues subsequent to thedetection of step 776. Also, the placement of the representation/copy ofthe sliding window of the gameplay in the third storage medium may freethe user/gamer of not having to commit to placing therepresentation/copy of the sliding window of the gameplay into morepermanent storage (e.g., the second storage medium). For example,placement in the third storage medium may facilitate editing or reviewoperations of the representation/copy of the sliding window prior touploading the same to the second storage medium.

In some embodiments, the placing of the copy of the representation ofthe sliding window of the gameplay in the third storage medium mayinclude initiating a timer to store a second sliding window of therepresentation after detecting the action, thereby resulting in anupdated representation of the sliding window of the gameplay. Responsiveto detecting an expiration of the timer, the updated representation maybe stored in the third storage medium. A length of the timer may bebased on a user input.

In some embodiments, the storing of step 778 may include storing a newrepresentation of the sliding window of the gameplay in the firststorage medium during the gameplay after placing the copy in the thirdstorage medium; in some embodiments, the storage of the newrepresentation may coincide with a step that is separate from step 778.

At step 780, the AMS application may present (e.g., simultaneouslypresent) the representation of the sliding window and/or the video,image, and/or audio track of the gamer, or a combination thereof. Insome embodiments, a user/gamer may generate media that may be shared onone or more platforms (e.g., social media platforms) as a game isoccurring, where the media may include the representation of the slidingwindow and/or the video, image, and/or audio track of the gamer, or acombination thereof. Alternatively, the user/gamer may generate themedia following the conclusion of the game in order to avoiddistractions during the game.

One or more of the steps shown in conjunction with FIG. 7B may beexecuted more than once. For example, subsequent to storing therepresentation of the sliding window of the gameplay in the secondstorage medium as part of step 778, a second representation of thesliding window of the gameplay may be stored in the first storage medium(as part of a second execution of step 772). The storing of the secondrepresentation of the sliding window of the gameplay may overwrite atleast a portion of the representation of the sliding window of thegameplay in the first storage medium as described above.

FIG. 7C illustrates another embodiment of a method that may be executedin conjunction with the flow shown in FIG. 7A. As shown in FIG. 7C, instep 770′ the AMS application can obtain an identification of an actionto monitor during a gameplay associated with a game. The identificationof the action may include a specification of a number of actions perunit time.

In step 772′, the AMS application can store a representation of aportion of the gameplay in a storage medium.

In step 774′, the AMS application can monitor the gameplay for theidentification of the action.

In step 776′, the AMS application can apply a tag to the representationof the portion of the gameplay in the storage medium responsive to themonitoring.

The representation of the portion of the gameplay may include a firstvideo clip that occurs prior to an occurrence of the action and a secondvideo clip that occurs subsequent to the action. A first time durationof the first video clip, a first resolution of the first video clip, asecond time duration of the second video clip, and a second resolutionof the second video clip may be based on one or more user preferences,network traffic, a device capability, etc.

The representation of the portion of the gameplay may include a videoclip. The tag may include a watermark that is applied to the video clip.The watermark may include the identification of the action. The tag mayinclude metadata that is associated with the video clip. The metadatamay be searchable via a search engine. The metadata may include aselectable link that, when selected, causes a client device to obtainthe video clip.

FIG. 7D illustrates another embodiment of a method that may be executedin conjunction with the flow shown in FIG. 7A. As shown in FIG. 7D, instep 770″ the AMS application can monitor for an identification of anaction during a gameplay.

In step 772″, the AMS application can detect the identification of theaction during the gameplay responsive to the monitoring.

In step 774″, the AMS application can present a prompt responsive to thedetecting.

In step 776″, the AMS application can store a representation of aportion of the gameplay, a representation of a gamer controlling thegameplay, or a combination thereof, in a storage medium according to auser-generated input associated with the prompt.

In some embodiments, machine-learning/artificial intelligence may beapplied to identify portions of a gameplay that are memorable or are ofinterest to a user (e.g., a gamer). For example, responsive to theuser-generated input associated with the prompt in step 776″, the AMSapplication can monitor for a second identification of the action (or analternative action) in step 778″.

In step 780″, the AMS application can detect the second identificationof the action (or the alternative action) during the gameplay responsiveto the monitoring for the second identification.

In step 782″, the AMS application can store a second representation of asecond portion of the gameplay, a second representation of the gamer, ora combination thereof, in the storage medium without presenting a secondprompt.

Once the AMS application at step 748 supplies to the OS of the computingdevice 206 a gaming action (i.e., one or more stimulations) from themethod of FIG. 7B, the method of FIG. 7C, the method of FIG. 7D, or acombination thereof, the AMS application can proceed to step 734. Thegaming action supplied to the OS at step 748 can be the unadulterated“original” gaming action of step 720, or an alternative gaming actiongenerated by steps 744 or 746. At step 734, the OS determines whether toinvoke in step 736 a software application identified in thestimulation(s) (e.g., gamer says “turn on team chat”, which invokes achat application), whether to forward the received stimulation(s) to thegaming software application in step 738, or combinations thereof.

Contemporaneous to the embodiments described above, the AMS applicationcan monitor in step 750 for game action results supplied by the gamingapplication via API messages previously described. For instance, supposethe stimulation sent to the gaming application in step 738 is a commandto shoot a pistol. The gaming application can determine that the shotfired resulted in a miss of a target or a hit. The gaming applicationcan respond with a message which is submitted by way of the API to theAMS application that indicates the shot fired resulted in a miss or ahit. If IDs such as GUIDs were sent with each stimulation, the gamingapplication can submit game action results with their corresponding GUIDto enable the AMS application to correlate the gaming action resultswith stimulations having the same GUID.

For example, if the command to shoot included the ID “1234”, then thegame action result indicating a miss will include the ID “1234”,enabling the AMS application in step 752 to correlate the game actionresult to the stimulation having the same ID. If on other hand, theorder of game action results can be maintained consistent with the orderof the stimulations, then the AMS application can correlate in step 754stimulations with game action results by the order in which stimulationwere submitted and the order in which game action results are received.In step 756, the AMS application can catalogue stimulations and gameaction results. In another embodiment, the AMS application can beadapted to catalogue the stimulations in step 760. In this embodiment,step 760 can be performed as an alternative to steps 750 through 756. Inanother embodiment, step 760 can be performed in combination with steps750 through 756 in order to generate a catalogue of stimulations, and acatalogue for gaming action results correlated to the stimulations.

FIG. 7E illustrates an interface that may be used to present at least aportion of a gameplay associated with a game. Various controls/commands,such as for example VCR types/styles of controls/commands, may bepresented as a part of the interface to facilitate a recording orcapture of one or more portions of the gameplay.

FIG. 7F illustrates an interface that may provide control over arecording or sharing of one or more representations (e.g., clips) of agameplay associated with a game. Various controls, such as for example a“share” button or the like, may be provided to enable a user (e.g., agamer) to post or otherwise share the representation(s). In someembodiments, editing controls may be provided to allow the user tocustomize the representation prior to, or subsequent to, sharing therepresentation.

In some embodiments, a user/gamer may have an ability to supplement therepresentation of the gameplay with commentary that describes, forexample, what the user's thought process was during thecaptured/represented portion of the gameplay. In this respect, andassuming that the user/gamer is viewed or otherwise characterized as anexpert in the game, a sharing of the representation of the gameplay mayserve as a tutorial for novice users.

FIG. 7G illustrates an interface that may present a tag 702 g (e.g., awatermark and/or metadata) associated with a representation of agameplay. The tag 702 g may include data acquired/obtained during thegameplay, such as for example a statement or other indication of resultsobtained by the gamer during the gameplay. Such a statement or otherindication may be received via, e.g., a microphone, a keyboard, a mobiledevice, a computing/gaming console, etc.

The methods described herein (e.g., the methods described above inconjunction with FIGS. 7A-7D) may incorporate additional aspects. Forexample, in some embodiments a clip may be generated based on a userdefined keybind (on a keyboard, mouse, or controller). Keybinds totrigger the clipping of a buffer to save to a local file system may becustomized (e.g., may be based on user preferences). The gamer will beable to choose: the actual key to bind to the action, and the time sliceto save (N seconds before and N′ seconds after).

In some embodiments, clips may be auto-generated based on some event,such as for example a detected event, an audible input (e.g.,screaming), messages associated with a chat client, etc. In someembodiments, default settings may be provided, and those settings may beat least partially overridden/replaced based on affirmative user inputsand/or based on artificial intelligence/machine-learned userpreferences.

In some embodiments, one or more filtering techniques may be applied toremove content from a representation of a gameplay that is not ofinterest. Such filtering may be based on one or more userinputs/preferences, may be learned over time via machinelearning/artificial intelligence, etc. If multiple events/actions thatare being monitored for happen within a threshold amount of time (whichmay coincide with a buffer time), an event/action endpoint may beextended to create one long time slice/representation of the gameplay.Alternatively, separate representations may be generated in someembodiments.

In some embodiments, tagging (e.g., watermarking) may be overlaid on arepresentation (e.g., a video) of a gameplay. A watermark may have agiven level of transparency associated with it to avoidobscuring/blocking the representation of the gameplay. One or more logosmay be applied as part of the tagging. In some embodiments, a watermarkmay pulsate or otherwise fade in-and-out. In this respect, dynamicwatermarks may be used. The use of a dynamic watermark may serve to drawadditional additional/incremental attention to the watermark, which maybe useful for promotional/marketing/branding purposes

Aspects of sharing the representation of the gameplay may be controlledvia one or more control parameters. Such control parameters maycondition the sharing on a size of the representation (e.g., a videolength), the content of the representation (e.g., controls may bepresent to limit a dissemination of the representation in view ofintellectual property rights or other rights), etc. In some embodiments,a sharing of the representation of the gameplay may be limited to usersthat the gamer (or other entity) authorizes. For example, the sharingmay be based on identifying a contact (e.g., a friend) of the gamer inone or more applications (e.g., a phone application, an emailapplication, a text message application, a social media application,etc.).

FIGS. 8-9 illustrate embodiments of a system with a correspondingcommunication flow diagram for correlating stimulations and gamingaction results. In this illustration a user clicks the left button 119of the gaming controller 115. The gaming controller 115 can includefirmware (or circuitry), which creates an event as depicted by event 2in FIG. 8. The button depression and the event creation are depicted inFIG. 9 as steps 902 and 904. In step 904, the firmware of the gamingcontroller 115 can, for example, generate an event type “left button#3”, and a unique GUID with a time stamp which is submitted to the AMSapplication. Referring back to FIG. 8, the AMS application cataloguesevent 3, and if a substitute stimulation has been predefined, remaps theevent according to the substitution. The remapped event is thentransmitted to the gaming application at event 4. Event 3 of FIG. 8 isdepicted as step 906 in FIG. 9. In this illustration, the AMSapplication substitutes the left button #3 depression stimulus with a“keyboard ‘F’” depression which can be interpreted by the gamingapplication as a fire command. The AMS application in this illustrationcontinues to use the same GUID, but substitutes the time stamp foranother time stamp to identify when the substitution took place.

Referring back to event 4, the gaming application processes the eventand sends back at event 5 a game action result to the AMS applicationwhich is processed by the AMS application at event 6. The AMSapplication then submits the results to the accessory at event 7. Events4 and 5 are depicted as step 908 in FIG. 9. In this step, the gamingapplication processes “F” as an action to fire the gamer's gun, and thendetermines from the action the result from logistical gaming resultsgenerated by the gaming application. In the present illustration, theaction of firing resulted in a hit. The gaming application submits tothe AMS application the result type “Hit” with a new time stamp, whileutilizing the same GUID for tracking purposes. At step 910, the AMSapplication correlates the stimulation “left button #3 (and/or thesubstitute stimulation keyboard “F”) to the game result “Hit” andcatalogues them in memory. The AMS application then submits to theaccessory (e.g., gaming controller 115) in step 910 the game actionresults “Hit” with the same GUID, and a new time stamp indicating whenthe result was received. Upon receiving the message from the AMSapplication, the accessory in step 912 processes the “Hit” by assertinga red LED on the accessory (e.g., left button 119 illuminates in red orother LED of the gaming controller 115 illuminates in red) to indicate ahit. Other notification notices can be used such as another color forthe LED to indicate misses, a specific sound for a hit, or kill, avibration or other suitable technique for notifying the gamer of thegame action result.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments of thesubject disclosure can be modified, reduced, or enhanced withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims described below. For example, theAMS application can be executed from an accessory 115 or computingdevice 206 to perform the embodiments described in the subjectdisclosure. The AMS application can also be operated from a remoteserver (“cloud services”). In yet another embodiment, functions of theAMS application can be distributed between devices. In yet anotherembodiment, the AMS application can be configured to track theperformance of a gamer and adapt a threshold as the gamer improves ordeclines in performance.

For instance, as a gamer's performance improves with a particular gamingaction, the threshold associated with the gaming action can be adaptedto be less sensitive in detecting an over usage state. Similarly, thesensitivity of the threshold can be increased to promptly identify anover usage state of a gaming action if the gamer's performance declinesas a result of an over usage of the gaming action. Additionally, the AMSapplication can be adapted to add gaming actions to an exclusion tablewhen the gamer's performance substantially improves as a result of usingthe gaming action being excluded. The exclusion table can also bechanged by the AMS application by removing a gaming action from theexclusion table responsive to its excessive use causing a decline in agamer's performance.

Other embodiments can be applied to the subject disclosure.

It should be understood that devices described in the exemplaryembodiments can be in communication with each other via various wirelessand/or wired methodologies. The methodologies can be links that aredescribed as coupled, connected and so forth, which can includeunidirectional and/or bidirectional communication over wireless pathsand/or wired paths that utilize one or more of various protocols ormethodologies, where the coupling and/or connection can be direct (e.g.,no intervening processing device) and/or indirect (e.g., an intermediaryprocessing device such as a router).

FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 1000 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethods described above. One or more instances of the machine canoperate, for example, as an accessory, computing device or combinationsthereof. In some embodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., usinga network 1026) to other machines. In a networked deployment, themachine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client user machinein a server-client user network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet, a smart phone, a laptop computer, adesktop computer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a communication device of the subject disclosureincludes broadly any electronic device that provides voice, video ordata communication. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, theterm “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machinesthat individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) ofinstructions to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein.

The computer system 1000 may include a processor (or controller) 1002(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)), a graphics processing unit(GPU, or both), a main memory 1004 and a static memory 1006, whichcommunicate with each other via a bus 1008. The computer system 1000 mayfurther include a display unit 1010 (e.g., a liquid crystal display(LCD), a flat panel, or a solid state display). The computer system 1000may include an input device 1012 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 1014 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1016, a signal generationdevice 1018 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interfacedevice 1020. In distributed environments, the embodiments described inthe subject disclosure can be adapted to utilize multiple display units1010 controlled by two or more computer systems 1000. In thisconfiguration, presentations described by the subject disclosure may inpart be shown in a first of the display units 1010, while the remainingportion is presented in a second of the display units 1010.

The disk drive unit 1016 may include a tangible computer-readablestorage medium 1022 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions(e.g., software 1024) embodying any one or more of the methods orfunctions described herein, including those methods illustrated above.The instructions 1024 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 1004, the static memory 1006, and/or within theprocessor 1002 during execution thereof by the computer system 1000. Themain memory 1004 and the processor 1002 also may constitute tangiblecomputer-readable storage media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Application specific integrated circuits andprogrammable logic array can use downloadable instructions for executingstate machines and/or circuit configurations to implement embodiments ofthe subject disclosure. Applications that may include the apparatus andsystems of various embodiments broadly include a variety of electronicand computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions in two ormore specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with relatedcontrol and data signals communicated between and through the modules,or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Thus, theexample system is applicable to software, firmware, and hardwareimplementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the subject disclosure, theoperations or methods described herein are intended for operation assoftware programs or instructions running on or executed by a computerprocessor or other computing device, and which may include other formsof instructions manifested as a state machine implemented with logiccomponents in an application specific integrated circuit or fieldprogrammable gate array. Furthermore, software implementations (e.g.,software programs, instructions, etc.) including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the methods described herein. It is furthernoted that a computing device such as a processor, a controller, a statemachine or other suitable device for executing instructions to performoperations or methods may perform such operations directly or indirectlyby way of one or more intermediate devices directed by the computingdevice.

While the tangible computer-readable storage medium 1022 is shown in anexample embodiment to be a single medium, the term “tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a singlemedium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets ofinstructions. The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any non-transitory medium that is capable ofstoring or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methods ofthe subject disclosure. The term “non-transitory” as in a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage includes without limitation memories, drives,devices and anything tangible but not a signal per se.

The term “tangible computer-readable storage medium” shall accordinglybe taken to include, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such asa memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only(non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable(volatile) memories, a magneto-optical or optical medium such as a diskor tape, or other tangible media which can be used to store information.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more ofa tangible computer-readable storage medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are from time-to-timesuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Wireless standards for device detection (e.g.,RFID), short-range communications (e.g., Bluetooth®, WiFi, Zigbee®), andlong-range communications (e.g., WiMAX, GSM, CDMA, LTE) can be used bycomputer system 1000.

FIG. 13 depicts system 1300 to identify a group of possible triggerclips in accordance with aspects of this disclosure and FIG. 14 depictsa system 1400 to distribute a group of trigger clips to a group ofplayers in accordance with aspects of this disclosure. Referring to bothFIGS. 13 and 14, in one or more embodiments, a computer server 1402 canimplement a video game (hereafter video game server 1402) involvingseveral different players 1304, 1306, 1308, 1314, 1316, and 1318 indifferent locations communicating with each other and the video gameserver 1402 over a communication network (e.g Internet). Further, someplayers 1304, 1306, 1314, and 1316 can comprise one team playing thevideo game playing against another team of players 1308 and 1318. Thegaming devices 1404, 1408, 1412, and 1416 are associated with eachplayers 1304, 1306, 1314, and 1316 of one team.

In one or more embodiments, the video game server 1402 can detect acurrent trigger during a video game and record a trigger clip. A triggeris an event in the video game that a player may find significant and/orif reviewed, improve player performance in the future. Examples oftriggers can include when a player makes a kill, makes a hit, takes ahit, loss of life, fired upon, implements weapon fire, loss of life ofanother player, change in ammunition, etc. A player may want to reviewtriggers so as to avoid such actions/events (e.g. loss of life, takes ahit, fired upon, etc.) or to continue the actions/events (e.g. makes akill, makes a hit, etc.) to improve video game performance in thefuture. A trigger clip is a portion of the video game that is recordedthat contains the trigger. As described herein, a video game may have asliding window of game content that it continuously records portions ofthe video game. Once the video game server 1402 identifies a trigger,the video game server 1402 can process the recorded slidingwindow/recorded portion of video game content that contains the triggeras the trigger clip. Further, the trigger clip can be provided andpresented to a player for the player's review.

In one or more embodiments, the trigger clip is a recorded portion ofthe game content from the perspective or point of view of a player. Insome embodiments, a trigger can involve one or more players. Thus, adistributed trigger clip may be requested or provided to all playersinvolved in the trigger. That is, a distributed trigger clip is a groupof trigger clips provided to each player involved in the trigger. Eachtrigger clip provided to each player is a portion of game content fromthe associated player's perspective or point of view. Referring to FIG.13, a trigger clip 1302 of a war scenario video game can include a firstplayer 1304 on a first team. The trigger clip 1302 can be from theperspective of the first player 1304. The trigger can be the loss oflife of a second player 1306 of the first team. Further, the triggerclip 1302 can include a first player 1308 on a second team that istaking cover behind a building 1310. The first player 1304 of the firstplayer may request to clip the trigger of the loss of life of the secondplayer 1306 of the first team because the first player 1304 on the firstteam is unsure whether he/she killed the second player 1306 on the firstteam (i.e. loss of life due to friendly fire), or whether the firstplayer 1308 on the second team killed the second player 1306 on thefirst team (i.e. loss of life due to enemy fire). The first player 1304may want to review the trigger clip to review whether he/she committedfriendly fire, and if so, avoid doing so in the future.

In one or more embodiments, the video game server 1402 can identify thatthe first player 1304 and the second 1306 on the first team are bothinvolved in the trigger. Thus, the video game server 1402 can generateanother trigger clip 1302 a from the perspective of the second player1306. Referring to FIG. 14, when requested by the first player 1304, thevideo game server can provide the distributed trigger clip, whichcomprises trigger clip 1302 and trigger clip 1302 a. Trigger clip 1302can be sent to gaming device 1404 associated with the first player 1304over a communication network (wired, wireless, or a combination thereof)to be presented on display 1406 for review by the first player 1304.Further, trigger clip 1302 a can be sent to gaming device 1408associated with the second player 1306 (wired, wireless, or acombination thereof) to be presented on display 1410 for review by thefirst player 1306.

Referring to FIG. 13, a third player 1314 and a fourth player 1316 onthe first team (same team as first player 1304 and second player 1306)are not involved in the trigger because they are in a differentscene/setting 1312 of the video game battling a second player 1318 onthe second team in a forest. Referring to FIG. 14, the video game server1402 would identify that neither the third player 1314 nor the fourthplayer 1316 would not be provided with the distributed trigger clipbecause they were not involved with the trigger. Thus, even though thevideo game server 1402 is communicatively coupled to gaming devices1412, 1416 and displays 1414 and 1418 associated with players 1314 and1316 over a communication network (wired, wireless, or a combinationthereof), the video game server 1402 would not provide the distributedtrigger clip 1302, 1302 a to gaming devices 1412 and 1416.

In one or more embodiments, the video game server 1402 can detect oridentify a trigger by receiving user-generated input from the firstplayer 1304, the user-generated input indicating to generate a clipaccording to the event/trigger and the players in involved in theevent/trigger. The user-generated input can also include a timestamp.The user-generated input can be provided entering text input, gestureinput (using a touchscreen graphical user interface), and/or voice input(involving voice recognition techniques) into the gaming device 1404.Further, the user-generated input provided to the gaming device 1404 isthen transmitted to the video game server 1402 for further processing.The video game server 1402 can then record the distributed trigger clip(group of trigger clips) about the timestamp (e.g. 20 seconds before andafter the indicated or detected trigger) included in the user-generatedinput (or detected otherwise) for the trigger/event and for the playersindicated in the user-generated input.

In one or more embodiments, prior to detecting a trigger, the video gameserver 1402 can receive user-generated input (as described herein)indicating different events that are associated with different triggertypes. For example, trigger types can include of kill, hit, weapon fire,loss of life of current player, loss of life of another player, andchange in ammunition. The video game server 1402 can associate eachevent with a trigger type according to the user-generated input.

In one or more embodiments, the video game server 1402 can detect atrigger by implementing image recognition techniques to identify orotherwise determine that an event within a portion of game content is atrigger. In other embodiments, the video game server 1402 can accesshistorical game content, and identify a previous trigger within thehistorical game content. That is, the video game server 1402 can analyzehistorical game content to determine when an event was identified as atrigger according to its trigger type. Based on such a determination,the video game server 1402 can detect a current trigger by determiningthe current trigger/event is of the same type as the previous trigger.

In one or more embodiments, the detecting of a current trigger caninclude accessing training game content, acquiring machine learningtechniques to identify different trigger from the different event fromthe training game content. That is, different events that are identifiedas different triggers in the training game content can be used to trainan artificial intelligence engine on the video game server 1402 toacquire machine learning techniques to identify triggers in portions ofgame content in the future. Further, the detecting of a current triggercan comprise identifying the current trigger by using, or in responseto, implementing the machine learning techniques on the portion of gamecontent.

In one or more embodiments, the video game server can determine a groupof players involved in a current trigger by identifying the group ofplayers using, or in response to, implementing image recognitiontechniques on a trigger clip. In some embodiments, the video game server1402 can determine the group of players involved in the current triggerby identifying the group of players by, or in response to, analyzinggame action during the same time period each possible trigger clip inthe group of trigger clips. That is, when the video game server 1402identifies a trigger in a portion of game content from one player'sperspective, the video game server can then generate a trigger clip forthat player (i.e. record a portion of the game content from thatplayer's perspective). However, the video game server 1402 can alsorecord other portions of game content, each portion of game content froma different player's perspective. These group of portions of gamecontent are possible trigger clips to comprise the distributed triggerclip. However, after determining only players involved in the trigger,the video game server 1402 discards portions of game content that arefrom perspective of players not involved in the trigger and generatesthe distributed trigger clip to comprise a group of portions of gamecontent (i.e. trigger

FIGS. 15A-D depict illustrative embodiments of methods utilized in thesubject disclosure. Further, the methods depicted in FIGS. 15A-D can beimplemented by a video game server as described herein. Referring toFIG. 15A, the method 1500 can include the video game server, at 1502,associating each event in a group of events with each trigger type froma group of trigger types. Further, the method 1500 can include the videogame server, at 1504, detecting a current trigger during a video game.In addition, the method 1500 can include the video game server, at 1506,determining a group of players involved in the current trigger. Also,the method 1500 can include the video game server, at 1508, recording atrigger clip of game content for each player in the group of playersresulting in a group of trigger clips. Each trigger clip of the group oftrigger clips is a portion of game content that includes the currenttrigger from a perspective of each player of the group of players.Further, the method 1500 can include the video game server, at 1510,providing the group of trigger clips to a group of gaming devices over acommunication network. Each gaming device of the group of gaming devicesis associated with one player of the group of players.

Referring to FIG. 15B, the method 1511 can implement detecting of thecurrent trigger in different embodiments. The method 1511 can includethe video game server, at 1512, receiving first user-generated input.The first user-generated input indicates the current trigger and/or torecord the group of trigger clips. Further, the method 1511 can includethe video game server, at 1514, implementing image recognitiontechniques on each portion of game content associated with each oftrigger clip of the group of trigger clips to determine that an eventoccurred within each portion of game content such that the eventcomprises the current trigger. In addition, the method 1511 can includethe video game server, at 1516, accessing historical game content. Also,the method 1511 can include the video game server, at 1518, identifyinga previous trigger within the historical game content. Further, themethod 1511 can include the video game server, at 1520, determining thecurrent trigger is a same type of trigger as the previous trigger. Inaddition, the method 1511 can include the video game server, at 1522,accessing training game content. Also, the method 1511 can include thevideo game server, at 1524, acquiring machine learning techniques toidentify different triggers from different events from the training gamecontent. Further, the method 1511 can include the video game server, at1526, identifying the current trigger in response to implementing themachine learning techniques on the portion of game content. In someembodiments, the current trigger comprises a trigger type, wherein thetrigger type comprises one of kill, hit, weapon fire, loss of life ofcurrent player, loss of life of another player, and change inammunition.

Referring to FIG. 15C, the associating an event with a trigger can bedone by the video game server in different embodiments. The method 1531can include the video game server, at 1530, determining the group ofevents of the video game. Further, the method 1531 can include the videogame server, at 1532, associating each event in the group of events ofthe video game with each trigger type from the group of trigger types.In addition, the method 1531 can include the video game server, at 1534,receiving second user-generated input. The second user-generated inputprovides an indication of each event associated with each trigger type.

Referring to FIG. 15D, the determining the group of players involved inthe current trigger can be done by the video game server in differentembodiments. The method 1541 can include the video game server, at 1540,implementing image recognition techniques on each trigger clip of thegroup of trigger clips. In response, the method 1541 can include thevideo game server, at 1542, identifying the group of players. Further,the method 1541 can include the video game server, at 1544, analyzinggame action during a same time period as each trigger clip of the groupof trigger clips. In response, the method 1541 can include the videogame server, at 1546, identifying the group of players. This analysiscan include the video game server determining from game action thelocation of each player within the video game and determining the groupof players involved in the current trigger by determining the locationof each player within the game. Further, those players within a certainthreshold distance from the event/current trigger are determined to beinvolved with the current trigger.

FIG. 16 depicts an example of an operating environment 1600 in which oneor more of the disclosed techniques may be implemented according to someembodiments. In operating environment 1600, a video gaming server 1650implements a video game with respect to which gameplay involvescompetition among multiple teams. Such a video game may be referred toas a “team-based” video game. An objective for a given participant in ateam-based video game will generally be to help his/her team to—as acollective unit—defeat, outscore, or otherwise outperform opposingteam(s). It is worthy of note that this may not necessarily be the soleobjective for a given participant in a team-based video game. Forexample, the objectives of a given participant in a given team-basedvideo game may be both to help his/her team achieve victory over otherteam(s) and to achieve particular individual performance goals. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

In operating environment 1600, non-colocated players 1601, 1602, 1603,1604, 1605, 1606, 1607, and 1608 participate in a session of theteam-based video game implemented by video gaming server 1650. Such asession of a team-based video game may be referred to as a “team-basedvideo gaming session.” The players 1601-1608 participating in theteam-based video gaming session in operating environment 1600communicate with each other and video gaming server 1650 over acommunication network (e.g Internet) 1635. Players 1601-1608 participatein the team-based video gaming session using respective gaming devices1621-1628 and displays 1611-1618. Teams A and B are formed from theparticipating players 1601-1608, and compete against each other duringgameplay. Players 1601-1604 are members of team A, while players1605-1608 are members of team B. It is to be appreciated that theembodiments are not limited to the particular example depicted in FIG.16.

In some embodiments, video gaming server 1650 can be configured monitorgameplay of the team-based video game in operating environment 1600. Insome embodiments, as video gaming server 1650 monitors gameplay of theteam-based video game over time, it may accumulate historical gaminginformation that characterizes and/or reflects observed aspects ofgameplay. As of the start of the team-based video gaming session ofoperating environment 1600, video gaming server 1650 has accumulated aset of historical gaming information 1660 based on observation of priorsessions of the team-based video game.

In various embodiments, video gaming server 1650 can be configured toperform real-time game analysis during team-based video gaming sessions.During the team-based video gaming session of operating environment1600, video gaming server 1650 may generate real-time analysisinformation 1662 in conjunction with performing real-time game analysisduring the depicted team-based video gaming session.

In some embodiments, video gaming server 1650 can be configured tomonitor gameplay for team-relevant triggers, and to record team-relevantvideo clips in response to detecting such team-relevant triggers. Insome embodiments, historical gaming information 1660 can includeteam-relevant video clips that video gaming server 1650 has recordedresponsive to detecting team-relevant triggers during past sessions ofthe team-based video game. In some embodiments, real-time analysisinformation 1662 can include team-relevant video clips that video gamingserver 1650 records during the team-based video gaming session depictedin FIG. 16. A team-relevant trigger generally comprises an event ofsignificance with respect to a team participating in a team-based videogame. A team-relevant video clip generally comprises a portion ofteam-based video game content that includes content corresponding to ateam-relevant trigger.

In various embodiments, video gaming server 1650 can conduct team-basedassessments of various aspects of gameplay with respect to theteam-based video gaming session in operating environment 1600. Such ateam-based assessment may generally involve assessing characteristicsand/or gameplay of a participating team as a collective unit. In someembodiments, for example, video gaming server 1650 may conductteam-based assessments that involve assessing the collective strengthsand weaknesses of team A and the collective strengths and weaknesses ofteam B. In various embodiments, in conjunction with performing ateam-based assessment of a given team, video gaming server 1650 mayanalyze team-relevant video clips associated with that team. Forexample, in conjunction with performing a team-based assessment of teamA, video gaming server 1650 may analyze team-relevant video clipsrecorded during past gaming sessions—such as may be comprised inhistorical gaming information 1660—and/or may analyze team-relevantvideo clips recorded during the current gaming session, such as may becomprised in real-time analysis information 1662. The embodiments arenot limited to this example.

In some embodiments, video gaming server 1650 may generate team-basedassessment information 1664 based on team-based assessments performedduring the team-based video gaming session of FIG. 16. In variousembodiments, video gaming server 1650 may provide team-based assessmentinformation 1664 to the players of a given team in order to inform themof the results of team-based assessments that it has performed on theirteam.

In some embodiments, video gaming server 1650 can provide team-basedstrategy recommendations to players participating in the team-basedvideo game in operating environment 1600. In various embodiments, videogaming server 1650 may send team-based strategy information 1666 toparticipating players in order to provide them with team-based strategyrecommendations. Such team-based strategy recommendations may generallyidentify beneficial strategies for teams to which they are provided—thatis, strategies and associated techniques and/or actions that areexpected to benefit a given team as a whole in the context ofcompetition against other teams in the team-based video game. In someembodiments, video gaming server 1650 can identify such techniquesand/or actions by analyzing historical gaming information 1660 and/orreal-time analysis information 1662. For example, in some embodiments,prior to the start of the team-based video gaming session of FIG. 16,video gaming server 1650 may analyze historical gaming information 1660associated with team A (such as may include historical team-relevantvideo clips associated with team A) and provide team-based strategyrecommendations identifying suggested techniques and/or actions to betaken once the team-based video gaming session begins. In anotherexample, in some embodiments, during the team-based video gaming sessionof FIG. 16, video gaming server 1650 may analyze historical gaminginformation 1660 and real-time analysis information 1662 associated withteam A (either or both of which may include team-relevant video clipsassociated with team A), and provide team-based strategy recommendationsidentifying suggested techniques and/or actions to be taken goingforward. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

In various embodiments, the team-based strategy recommendations thatvideo gaming server 1650 provides may specify differing techniquesand/or actions to be taken by different players of a given team. In somecases, a team-based strategy recommendation that video gaming server1650 provides to a given player may identify a technique/action thatdoes not benefit that player individually (and possibly is even to thatplayer's detriment), but is expected to benefit that player's team as awhole. In an example embodiment, video gaming server 1650 may recommendthat one or more players intentionally reduce their accuracy and/or makemore aggressive moves during certain circumstances. In another example,video gaming server 1650 may recommend that one or more playersintentionally sacrifice their health or lives in order to enable otherplayers to eliminate a highly-skilled opponent. The embodiments are notlimited to these examples.

In some embodiments, video gaming server 1650 can analyze gameplay ofthe team-based video game and propose new team-relevant triggers. Insome embodiments, video gaming server can identify potentialteam-relevant triggers based on analysis of historical gaminginformation 1660 and/or real-time analysis information 1662. In someembodiments, video gaming server 1650 can send team-based triggerinformation 1668 to participating players in order to inform them ofpotential team-relevant triggers that it has identified.

FIG. 17 depicts an example of a method 1700 that may be representativeof the implementation of one or more of the disclosed techniquesaccording to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 17, a plurality ofteam-relevant video clips may be recorded at 1702 responsive todetecting team-relevant triggers during monitoring of gameplay of ateam-based video game. At 1704, one or more team-relevant video clipsmay be identified that are associated with a participating team of ateam-based video gaming session of the team-based video game. At 1706, abeneficial strategy for the participating team may be determined basedon analysis of the one or more team-relevant video clips associated withthe participating team. At 1708, team-based strategy information may begenerated for a player of the participating team based on the beneficialstrategy. At 1710, the team-based strategy information may be providedto the player of the participating team. The embodiments are not limitedto this example.

FIG. 18 depicts an example of a method 1800 that may be representativeof the implementation of one or more of the disclosed techniquesaccording to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 18, a plurality ofteam-relevant video clips may be recorded at 1802 during monitoring ofgameplay of a team-based video game. At 1804, the plurality ofteam-relevant video clips may be analyzed to identify a potentialteam-relevant trigger. At 1806, team-based trigger information may besent to participating players of a team-based video gaming session ofthe team-based video game. This team-based trigger information mayindicate the potential team-relevant trigger identified at 1804. At1808, it may be determined to adopt the potential team-relevant trigger.At 1810, a team-relevant video clip may be recorded responsive todetecting the adopted team-relevant trigger during subsequent monitoringof the gameplay of the team-based video game. The embodiments are notlimited to this example.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Theexemplary embodiments can include combinations of features and/or stepsfrom multiple embodiments. Other embodiments may be utilized and derivedtherefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Figuresare also merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certainproportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized.Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,can be used in the subject disclosure. In one or more embodiments,features that are positively recited can also be excluded from theembodiment with or without replacement by another component or step. Thesteps or functions described with respect to the exemplary processes ormethods can be performed in any order. The steps or functions describedwith respect to the exemplary processes or methods can be performedalone or in combination with other steps or functions (from otherembodiments or from other steps that have not been described).

Portions of some embodiments can be combined with portions of otherembodiments.

Less than all of the steps or functions described with respect to theexemplary processes or methods can also be performed in one or more ofthe exemplary embodiments. Further, the use of numerical terms todescribe a device, component, step or function, such as first, second,third, and so forth, is not intended to describe an order or functionunless expressly stated so. The use of the terms first, second, thirdand so forth, is generally to distinguish between devices, components,steps or functions unless expressly stated otherwise. Additionally, oneor more devices or components described with respect to the exemplaryembodiments can facilitate one or more functions, where the facilitating(e.g., facilitating access or facilitating establishing a connection)can include less than every step needed to perform the function or caninclude all of the steps needed to perform the function.

In one or more embodiments, a processor (which can include a controlleror circuit) has been described that performs various functions. Itshould be understood that the processor can be multiple processors,which can include distributed processors or parallel processors in asingle machine or multiple machines. The processor can be used insupporting a virtual processing environment. The virtual processingenvironment may support one or more virtual machines representingcomputers, servers, or other computing devices. In such virtualmachines, components such as microprocessors and storage devices may bevirtualized or logically represented. The processor can include a statemachine, application specific integrated circuit, and/or programmablegate array including a Field PGA. In one or more embodiments, when aprocessor executes instructions to perform “operations”, this caninclude the processor performing the operations directly and/orfacilitating, directing, or cooperating with another device or componentto perform the operations.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided with the understanding thatit will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of theclaims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can beseen that various features are grouped together in a single embodimentfor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method ofdisclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that theclaimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited ineach claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subjectmatter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment.Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimedsubject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, comprising: a memory to storeinstructions; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein responsiveto executing the instructions, the processor performs operationscomprising: identifying, among a plurality of team-relevant video clips,one or more team-relevant video clips associated with a participatingteam of a team-based video gaming session of a team-based video game;receiving user-generated input generated by the participating team;receiving the plurality of team-relevant video clips; training asoftware application according to the user-generated input and imageprocessing of the plurality of team-relevant video clips, wherein thesoftware application facilitates operations including: determining abeneficial strategy for the participating team based on a target gamingresult collectively beneficial to all members of the participating teamand not necessarily any single member of the participating team, thebeneficial strategy determined from analysis of the image processing ofthe one or more team-relevant video clips and the user-generated inputassociated with the participating team; responsive to the determining,generating team-based strategy information for a player of theparticipating team based on the beneficial strategy; and providing theteam-based strategy information to equipment utilized by the player ofthe participating team.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise recording the plurality of team-relevant video clipsresponsive to detecting team-relevant triggers during monitoring ofgameplay of the team-based video game.
 3. The device of claim 1, whereinthe one or more team-relevant video clips associated with theparticipating team include a team-relevant video clip recorded duringthe team-based video gaming session of the team-based video game.
 4. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the one or more team-relevant video clipsassociated with the participating team include a team-relevant videoclip recorded during a prior team-based video gaming session of theteam-based video game.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the softwareapplication comprises a machine learning algorithm.
 6. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the team-based strategy information indicates an actionto be undertaken by the player of the participating team according tothe beneficial strategy.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein theteam-based strategy information instructs the player of theparticipating team to perform a gaming action beneficial to theparticipating team and not beneficial to the player.
 8. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the user-generated input generated by the participatingteam and the plurality of team-relevant video clips is received duringteam-based video gaming session and is provided to the softwareapplication in real-time.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein theteam-based strategy information is provided to the player during theteam-based video game to achieve the target gaming result in real-time.10. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprisinginstructions, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, aprocessor performs operations comprising: recording a plurality ofteam-relevant video clips responsive to detecting team-relevant triggersduring monitoring of gameplay of a team-based video game; identifying,among the plurality of team-relevant video clips, one or moreteam-relevant video clips associated with a participating team of ateam-based video gaming session of the team-based video game; receivinguser-generated input generated by the participating team; training asoftware application according to the user-generated input generated bythe participating team and the plurality of team-relevant video clips,wherein the software application facilitates operations including:determining a beneficial strategy for the participating team based on atarget gaming result collectively beneficial to all members of theparticipating team and not necessarily any single member of theparticipating team, the beneficial strategy determined from analysis ofimage processing of the one or more team-relevant video clips and theuser-generated input associated with the participating team; generatingteam-based strategy information for a player of the participating teambased on the beneficial strategy; and providing the team-based strategyinformation to equipment utilized by the player of the participatingteam.
 11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim10, wherein the one or more team-relevant video clips associated withthe participating team include a team-relevant video clip recordedduring the team-based video gaming session of the team-based video game.12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10,wherein the one or more team-relevant video clips associated with theparticipating team include a team-relevant video clip recorded during aprior team-based video gaming session of the team-based video game. 13.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, whereinthe software application comprises an artificial intelligence algorithm.14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10,wherein the team-based strategy information indicates an action to beundertaken by the player of the participating team according to thebeneficial strategy.
 15. The non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium of claim 10, wherein the team-based strategy informationinstructs the player of the participating team to perform a gamingaction beneficial to the participating team and not beneficial to theplayer.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim10, wherein the user-generated input generated by the participating teamand the plurality of team-relevant video clips is received duringteam-based video gaming session and is provided to the softwareapplication in real-time.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 10, wherein the recording the plurality ofteam-relevant video clips and the providing the team-based strategyinformation occurs during the team-based video gaming session.
 18. Amethod, comprising: recording, by a processing system including aprocessor, a plurality of team-based video clips associated with aparticipating team of a team-based video gaming session responsive todetecting triggers during monitoring of gameplay of a team-based videogame; receiving, by the processing system, user-generated inputgenerated by the participating team; determining, by the processingsystem, a beneficial strategy for the participating team based onreal-time game analysis of one or more team-based video clips associatedwith the plurality of team-based video clips, the user-generated input,or both, the beneficial strategy adversely affecting a gamingperformance of a player of the participating team to improve a gamingresult of the participating team; generating, by the processing system,team-based strategy information for the player of the participating teambased on the beneficial strategy; and providing, by the processingsystem, the team-based strategy information to equipment utilized by theplayer of the participating team.
 19. The method of claim 18, whereinthe triggers correspond to one or more gaming events occurring duringthe team-based video gaming session.
 20. The method of claim 18, whereinthe one or more team-based video clips associated with the participatingteam include a video clip recorded during the team-based video gamingsession or a prior team-based video gaming session of the team-basedvideo game.